ART DRIVE! The BMW Art Car Collection 1975-2010. Exhibition of Art Cars by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and David Hockney – On Show for First Time in the UK in East End Car Park.

In 1975. American artist Alexander Kolder. BMW 3.0 CSL.

London. The ICA, in partnership with BMW, the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival, will take over a landmark car park in Shoreditch for two weeks only from 21 July to 4 August for a unique exhibition of the BMW ART CAR COLLECTION on show for the first time in the UK. Admission is free.

ART DRIVE! THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION will show the work of 16 international artists over six floors in the NCP Car Park on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch. The project, which brings together BMW’s excellence in car design and the ICA’s passion for and commitment to art, will be a one-off opportunity for art and design lovers as well as car enthusiasts.

In 1979. American artist Andy Warhol. BMW M1 Group 4.

The BMW ART CAR COLLECTION started when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain invited his friend Alexander Calder to design a car that married artistic excellence to ‘an already perfect object’. The end result was a racing car that would ultimately compete in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1975. And so the BMW Art Car was born…

In 1982. Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs. BMW 635 CSi.

Since then some of the greatest names in contemporary art have added to the collection creating a wide range of artistic interpretations. David Hockney’s 1995 Art Car paints the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back. Rauschenberg incorporates photographic transfers of Ingres paintings while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed.